July 04, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1428

LONDON, July 3: Champion Amelie Mauresmo's Wimbledon reign ended in a bizarre fourth round encounter on Tuesday when she was upset 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 by Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.

In a match featuring three rain disruptions and a confused umpire who lost his bearings midway through the tussle, 14th seed Vaidisova downed an out-of-sorts Mauresmo with a barrage of hefty groundstrokes.

After an error-riddled performance including 14 double faults, the fourth-seeded Frenchwoman suffered her earliest exit from the grasscourt Grand Slam since 2001.

She left court shaking her head in disbelief and desperate to escape an arena which had turned into her own personal torture chamber.

For the third time this year, Mauresmo's Grand Slam dreams were ripped apart by a Czech opponent. Lucie Safarova beat her at Melbourne Park in January and Roland Garros last month.

Mauresmo was leading 4-2 in the first set when showers first came down but 18-year-old Vaidisova proved to be a gutsy opponent and roared back to save three set points in the tiebreak before taking it 8-6 with a little help from Hawkeye.

Umpire Kim Craven then lost the plot, forgetting whose serve it was and at which end the players should start the second set.

He caused much bemusement first picking up the phone to consult someone, then climbing down from his chair and rummaging through a bag before finally seeking advice from a ballboy.

A second downpour sent the players scurrying back into the locker room with Mauresmo again leading 4-2 in the second set.

After resuming the match for a third time, Mauresmo levelled the contest but her usual flow of elegant volleys and angled winners soon dried up.

Mauresmo, beaten by Vaidisova in their last two meetings, imploded in the decider and bowed out by netting a service return.

Vaidisova will next play Serbian sixth seed Ana Ivanovic, who kept her wits about her through four rain disruptions to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over Russian Nadia Petrova.Ivanovic had romped through her previous three matches at the grasscourt Grand Slam without dropping a set but ran into a determined opponent on Tuesday.

Petrova, a quarter-finalist on her last appearance here in 2005, threatened to pull off an upset when she easily outclassed Ivanovic in the second set but failed to keep up the momentum in the decider.

Third seed Jelena Jankovic followed Mauresmo out of Wimbledon when Marion Bartoli profited from some sloppy strokes to dismiss her 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a match interrupted four times by rain.

The Serb has been one of the most consistent players this year and last month reached the French Open semi-finals but against the French 18th seed she seemed to lack conviction at the net and repeatedly struggled to hold serve.

Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt ended Guillermo Canas's comeback with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat in the third round on Tuesday.

Hewitt managed to survive numerous rain breaks to book his place in the fourth round for the sixth time in his career.

Australian Hewitt, who is the only former champion alongside Roger Federer in the men's draw, will next face either fourth seed Novak Djokovic or Germany's Nicolas Kiefer.

A timely rain break allowed a cramping and tearful Serena Williams to hobble into the quarter-finals on Monday after completing a dramatic comeback.

The American's Wimbledon dreams looked all over when she collapsed in agony behind the baseline at 5-5 in the second set against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova but a two-hour downpour gave her a reprieve and she stormed back to win 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal was among those still left stranded in the third round. He was leading 2-0 in the fifth set against Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Fourth round: 20-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Third round: 6-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Gael Monfils (France) 6-3, 7-5, 6-3; 16-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 22-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

Fourth round: 18-Marion Bartoli (France) beat 3-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; 6-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat 11-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; 14-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) beat 4-Amelie Mauresmo (France) 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-1; 5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-3, 6-2

Monday’s remaining results:

Men’s singles:

Third round 14-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat 18-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; 19-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Wayne Arthurs (Australia) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

Fourth round: 7-Serena Williams (US) beat 10-Daniela Hantuchova

(Slovakia) 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2; 31-Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) beat Laura Granville (US) 6-3, 6-4.—Reuters